NEWSMAKER-Iran's negotiator - rigid ideologue close to Khamenei

February 25, 2013|Reuters

* Jalili espouses no-compromise attitude

* War veteran is confidant of Iran's supreme leader

* Described as a "true product of the Iranian revolution"

By Marcus George

DUBAI, Feb 25 (Reuters) - If there is a path to compromisein nuclear talks between the big powers and Iran, it leads pastSaeed Jalili, a man who bears the physical scars of Iran'sbattles to assert itself and its Islamic revolution againstoutsiders.

For five years, Jalili has been Iran's top nuclearnegotiator, relentlessly asserting what Iran says is itssovereign right to peaceful nuclear power. In those five years,U.N. sanctions over activities that could lead Iran to nuclearweapons have been tightened three times, and several attempts toresolve the dispute have failed.

Academics and diplomats see little sign that Iran is readyfor compromise. But they say the United States, China, Russia,France, Britain and Germany - the "P5+1" - can at least be surewhen they meet Jalili in Kazakhstan on Tuesday that his defiantposition has the resolute backing of Iran's supreme leader.

Jalili, 47, lost his right leg in the 1980s, fighting forthe elite Revolutionary Guards in a war against Iraq where thesurvival of Iran's young Shi'ite theocratic revolution was underthreat from Saddam Hussein and the Western and Sunni Gulf Arabpowers backing Iraq.

"He sees the U.S. and Europe as guilty for supporting Iraqagainst Iran. When he's sitting down with them, I'm sure hisexperiences are somewhere in the back of his mind" said MohammadMarandi, assistant professor at Tehran University.

"Jalili is a tough negotiator and believes strongly inIran's nuclear programme and its sovereign rights. He's not thesort of person to give major concessions."

"PRODUCT OF THE REVOLUTION"

When Jalili was appointed in October 2007, the news wasgreeted with surprise and concern.

Iranian newspapers asked how an inexperienced diplomat hadbeen elevated to lead the powerful Supreme National SecurityCouncil, a post that automatically made him chief negotiator onnuclear affairs.

Within days, a U.S. diplomatic cable later published byWikiLeaks spoke of "a move to forestall any compromises on thenuclear issue" and a "hardening of Iran's negotiating position".

Another U.S. cable dated Jan. 25, 2008, said an EU officialwho met Jalili in Brussels "was struck by his seeming inabilityor unwillingness to deviate from the same presentation ...calling him 'a true product of the Iranian revolution'".

For four years from 2001, he ran the office of SupremeLeader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

When Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected president in 2005, hechose Jalili, 39 at the time, to be his adviser, and withinmonths made him deputy foreign minister.

Latterly, Ahmadinejad and Khamenei have fallen outdramatically. But Jalili, outwardly soft-spoken and almostbashful, appears to have avoided being dragged into the publicquarrel, while retaining the confidence of Khamenei, who decidesIran's nuclear policy.

"What Khamenei knows of the 5+1 position, he has to learnfrom Jalili. Jalili therefore plays a role in framing what helearns from the negotiations for Khamenei's ear," said ShaulBakhash, professor of history at George Mason University inVirginia.

The challenge for the big powers may be in trying to framediscussions in a way that avoids challenging Jalili's fierceideological allegiance to Iran's theocratic system.

THEOLOGICALLY MINDED

Jalili gained a doctorate in political science at Imam SadiqUniversity, a training ground for Iranian leaders, where hewrote a study entitled "Foreign policy of (the) Prophet ofIslam", according to a biography that was for a time posted onthe Foreign Ministry website.

"He is deeply theologically minded. An education at ImamSadiq combines a modern education with solid Islamic studies andits graduates rise to the top posts in Iran," said SadeqZibakalam, professor of political science at Tehran University.

Britain's former ambassador to Iran, Geoffrey Adams, toldU.S. diplomats that Jalili "would lecture on the theological andideological basis of foreign policy in a very academic butpointless manner", according to another leaked U.S. cable from2007.

Karim Sadjadpour of the Washington-based Carnegie Endowmentthink tank said Jalili's experience of the Iraq had helped toconfirm him in "a revolutionary world view that sees Westernnations and culture as anathema to the Islamic Republic".

Yet Jalili has no shortage of ambition and may have to bemore pragmatic in time to come.

His high-profile defence of Iran's position and his strongrevolutionary credentials have prompted conservatives to touthim as candidate material for a presidential election in June.

A Western diplomat based in Tehran said Jalili was morelikely to bide his time since he had "not yet obtainedsufficient public profile for that office". But whatever hisintentions, his loyalty is likely to pay dividends.

"The best way to get a promotion in contemporary Iranianpolitics is to be obsequious to the Supreme Leader," saidSadjadpour. "Jalili is a classic apparatchik who is willing tofollow orders."